We all know someone who seems to defy aging, people who look younger than their peers despite being the same age. What’s their secret? Scientists at Osaka University in Japan may have found a way to quantify this difference. By incorporating hormone (steroid) metabolism pathways into an AI-driven model, they have developed a system to estimate a person’s biological age—a measure of how well their body has aged rather than simply counting the years since birth.

This method requires only five drops of blood to analyze 22 key steroids and their interactions, providing a more precise assessment of overall health. Published in Science Advances, the team’s study represents a major step toward personalized health management, enabling earlier detection of age-related risks and more targeted interventions.

Aging isn’t just about the number of years we’ve lived—it’s shaped by genetics, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Traditional methods for estimating biological age rely on broad biomarkers, such as DNA methylation or protein levels, but these approaches often overlook the intricate hormonal networks that regulate the body’s internal balance. Our bodies rely on hormones to maintain homeostasis, so we thought, why not use these as key indicators of aging? says Dr. Qiuyi Wang, co-first author of the study. To test this idea, the research team focused on steroid hormones, which play a crucial role in metabolism, immune function, and stress response.

The team developed a deep neural network (DNN) model that incorporates steroid metabolism pathways, making it the first AI model to explicitly account for the interactions between different steroid molecules. Instead of looking at absolute steroid levels—which can vary widely between individuals—the model examines steroid ratios, providing a more personalized and accurate assessment of biological age.

Source: https://scitechdaily.com/are-you-aging-faster-than-you-should-new-ai-reveals-your-true-biological-age-from-5-drops-of-blood/